Crown suggests officer's stumble explanation in fatal shooting is a 'fabrication'

CBC News

· Posted: May 16, 2025 8:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 13 minutes ago

A Crown lawyer accused an OPP serviceman facing a manslaughter charge of making up his mentation of what happened successful the seconds earlier his weapon fired astir 4 years ago, fatally wounding a man.

Const. Sean O'Rourke denied the allegation successful tribunal connected Friday. He has been connected proceedings this week successful the shooting of 24-year-old Nicholas Grieves. On Thursday, helium told the tribunal that successful the aboriginal hours of July 7, 2021, helium tripped and fell into the beforehand rider model of the car carrying Grieves and 2 others, aft they had stolen $40 worthy of state from a Dutton, Ont., state station. 

O'Rourke has pleaded not blameworthy to the manslaughter charge.

Grieves was a subordinate of Six Nations of the Grand River but had been staying successful Windsor.

O'Rourke had antecedently told the court, and testified again connected Friday, that helium and different serviceman attempted to execute a tandem halt of the car connected Highway 401 erstwhile Grieves, driving the car, rammed his vehicle. That caused the car to rotation retired of power and onshore successful a ditch. 

That was erstwhile O'Rourke approached the car. He said that helium had his weapon drawn and connected uneven crushed helium tripped, stumbled and landed caput and shoulders successful the car, with his weapon inches from Grieves successful the beforehand seat. 

"I was successful a panic to get out," O'Rourke said Friday. He said helium feared for his information due to the fact that of the car's "violent" interaction with his cruiser, and led him to attack the car with his weapon drawn. He besides spoke to a "crazed" look successful Grieves's eyes, arsenic good arsenic his continual rummaging successful the beforehand console of the car — O'Rourke said, helium believed, for a weapon. 

Then, helium says, the weapon went disconnected — and he's not definite how. O'Rourke testified that his fingers remained connected the descent of the gun. 

"I volition suggest your stumble mentation is simply a fabrication," said Crown lawyer Jason Nicol connected Friday. "You're fabricating that stumble mentation to screen up your ain carelessness astatine pointing that weapon astatine the occupants of the car."

It was a mentation that O'Rourke categorically denied. 

Nicol besides established that O'Rourke did not instrumentality the clip — approximately, O'Rourke said, 20 seconds — to hole a breached vigor earlier responding to the theft for state call, nor did helium telephone for backup beyond the 2nd serviceman connected country contempt his stated fearfulness for his information — and that helium hadn't communicated with that 2nd serviceman since they spotted the car suspected successful the state theft.

"How could specified a highly trained serviceman arsenic yourself, however could you not person power of your trigger digit astatine each times," Nicol asked. 

O'Rourke replied that helium had power of his fingers connected the mode into the car, but didn't cognize arsenic helium made his mode retired of the car. 

The tribunal has antecedently heard from different OPP officers, including Sgt. Bradley Cooke who responded to the telephone with O'Rourke, and a firearm expert who had examined O'Rourke's weapon and recovered it to beryllium successful bully moving order. 

Court was successful league for conscionable a small implicit 2 hours connected Friday. The proceedings volition reconvene connected Tuesday.